


closeness

by The_Eclectic_Bookworm



Series: firsts [1]
Category: Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-25
Updated: 2017-09-25
Packaged: 2019-01-05 06:41:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,548
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12184902
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Eclectic_Bookworm/pseuds/The_Eclectic_Bookworm
Summary: Ms. Calendar settled into the front seat, buckling her seatbelt as Giles began to drive. “You okay?” she asked quietly.The question more than startled Giles. “Am I what?”(set after when she was bad)





	closeness

“If I throw up on Giles’s upholstery, will he be super mad at me?” Willow mumbled in the backseat, her head nestled against Ms. Calendar’s shoulder.

“No, sweetie, I think he’ll be nice about it,” Ms. Calendar was saying, “but don’t throw up on my shoulder, okay? This jacket is messed up enough as it is.”

Willow giggled. Next to her, Xander was staring pensively out the window, still a bit bloody and battered. Angel was walking Buffy home, something about them _taking the long way,_ and Giles was much too tired to intervene.

“Should you be driving?” Cordelia inquired from the front seat. Giles was more than a little bit annoyed about this seating arrangement, particularly since Cordelia had elbowed Ms. Calendar out of the way in her bid for shotgun. “I mean, you _were_ knocked out—”

“Yeah, well, I’ve been locked in a cellar for three days and I’m not letting Xander drive me home, so Rupert’s our best bet,” said Ms. Calendar, giving Cordelia a small, tense smile. “Sorry,” she added in Giles’s direction.

Giles nearly ran the car into a mailbox turning to look back at Ms. Calendar. Cordelia shrieked in his ear as though the car had just been hit by a vampire; good _lord,_ he wished Ms. Calendar was up front instead. “Oh, no, it’s, it’s fine—” he stammered, blushing furiously. Thank heavens for dim streetlights.

Ms. Calendar smiled at him, and it was quite a different smile from the one she directed at Cordelia. Her eyes were warm and bright, and they seemed to contain all the light in the world as she said, “You know, you should probably be looking at the road right now.”

“Road! Right,” said Giles, mortified, and directed his gaze back ahead of him. “So this is—”

“You literally just drove right by my house,” Cordelia said irritably. “Right by it. Giles, you suck at this. Someone else needs to drive us home next time we all get strung up for a blood sacrifice.”

“Wow, yes,” said Ms. Calendar. “ _Next_ time we nearly get sacrificed. Gotta love the sound of that.”

Giles didn’t have time to dwell on the fact that his life was a dangerous mess and it was a miracle that Ms. Calendar hadn’t run as fast as she can in the opposite direction (not for longer than five seconds, at least), because he was very much focused on trying to make sure Cordelia was out of the car. “One of you can move up front, if you like,” he offered, glancing furtively at Ms. Calendar.

“Aww, I think Willow’s asleep on my shoulder,” Ms. Calendar murmured, smoothing down Willow’s hair and settling into the backseat. She looked up, and Giles thought he saw more than just a glint of mischief in her eyes when she said, “Xander, you wanna move up front?”

Xander shrugged, still looking barely present. Giles thanked whatever deity had graced him with the small mercy of not sitting next to Xander Harris for an early-morning car ride and started up the car, waiting until Cordelia was all the way inside her house before he began to drive again.

“I’ll take her in,” Xander offered when they pulled up in front of Willow’s house. “Easier to explain away than one of her teachers bringing her home, right?” He forced a smile, climbing out of the car and helping a half-asleep Willow out with him.

“Thanks, Giles,” Willow mumbled, rubbing her eyes. “You too, Ms. Calendar.”

Ms. Calendar unbuckled her seatbelt and ( _oh!_ ) maneuvered herself into the front seat, climbing ungracefully between the seats and nearly landing in Giles’s lap. “Take care of yourself, kids,” she called, much too loudly for this hour.

Giles winced. Yes, he liked her, but he also liked peace and quiet. “Make sure she’s safe,” he directed Xander, trying to sound as austere and threatening as he could. The boy didn't look at all troubled, which was more than just slightly frustrating; he missed his days of authority.

Ms. Calendar settled into the front seat, buckling her seatbelt as Giles began to drive. “You okay?” she asked quietly.

The question more than startled Giles. “Am I what?”

Ms. Calendar cocked her head, looking at Giles with an expression he couldn't quite understand. “No one asked you if you were okay,” she said. “So I’m asking. Are you okay right now?”

There were many times that Giles had wanted to kiss Ms. Calendar. Even back when they were workplace enemies and having fierce arguments in the staff meeting, he’d wanted to grab her and kiss her, which had somehow made him even _more_ angry at her at the time. His emotions had always been difficult for him to fathom. But this was the first time that he’d wanted to reach out and hold her, because what she’d just said had made him feel unusually valued. “I’m not sure,” he said truthfully.

Ms. Calendar reached out, placing a hand on his arm. It was a flicker of a touch, but it made Giles’s heart leap into his throat; he honestly couldn't remember the last time someone had touched him like that. “Yeah,” she said, and her smile was crooked and a little bit sad. “I definitely get how that feels.”

What Giles wanted to say was  _you’re the most remarkable woman I have ever met._ What Giles said was, “I-I’m not sure how to get to your house.”

Ms. Calendar let her hand drop, the moment was gone, and Giles was reminded once again of how painfully horrible he was at romance. “Take two rights, then a left, and you’ll be right at my place,” Ms. Calendar said. “This town is crazy small. Did you know that the cemeteries actually take up more space than the houses?”

“Sounds about right,” said Giles, strangely relieved by the change of subject.

Some part of him was quite frightened at the thought of being with someone like Ms. Calendar—so vivacious, so charming, almost too perfect. It had been so long that he’d had any kind of a friendship, let alone a romantic connection that extended beyond the purely physical, and every conversation with Ms. Calendar reminded him that being with her could become something much more meaningful than he’d ever known. He wasn’t sure if he was prepared for anything like that.

“Hey, we’re here!” Ms. Calendar beamed as the car stops by a small, cozy-looking house. “Home sweet home. God, I’m going to _really_ enjoy taking a long, fun nap.”

“After a night like this, you more than deserve one,” Giles agreed, feeling a sad little twist at the thought of saying goodbye to Ms. Calendar so soon.

But to Giles’s complete surprise, Ms. Calendar didn't move to get out of the car. Without looking at him, she asked, “Would it be kinda weird if I asked you to walk me to my door?”

“Wh-no, not—no, of, that is, no,” stammered a surprised and pleased Giles. “I—I’d be happy to. Truly.” Ms. Calendar gave him this sideways little smile that made Giles feel like she knew a bit more than he’d like her to. Nervously, he unbuckled his seatbelt, getting out of the car and hurrying around to open the door for her. Extending a hand, he said awkwardly, “Shall we?”

“You’re quite the gentleman,” said Ms. Calendar, taking Giles’s hand and letting him pull her gently out of the car. She sounded both amused and touched by this.

Giles tried to let his hand drop, but Ms. Calendar interlaced their fingers, very purposefully not looking at him. He got the strangest sense that _this_ was the most nervous she’d been all night; not the near-death experience, but the physical closeness of holding hands. “Are _you_ all right?” he asked her hesitantly.

“You checked in with me already, remember?” said Ms. Calendar, which didn't really answer the question.

They reached Ms. Calendar’s front door, and she let go of his hand to rummage under the welcome mat for the spare key. “Sorry,” she said, laughing a little self-deprecatingly. “You can go now if you want, it’s just, god, it’s been a _crazy_ day. I mean, I apparently almost got sacrificed to resurrect a vampire? That’s some crazy stuff right there.”

There was something about the way her hands shook when she unlocked her front door that made Giles hesitant to leave her. He didn’t like the thought of leaving Ms. Calendar alone in an empty house, not after a night like this. “You didn’t answer my question,” he said quietly.

“What?”

“Are you all right?”

Ms. Calendar looked at him for a very long time. Then she said, “I’m as all right as you are, Rupert. How’s that for an answer?”

Barely conscious of his own actions, Giles reached out, cupping Ms. Calendar’s face in one hand. She tilted her head up, eyes fluttering shut, and he kissed her—a quiet, brief kiss, barely a second long, but it was enough. He pulled back slowly, not quite sure what this meant, not quite ready to question the moment.

There was a barely-there smile blooming on Ms. Calendar’s face. “Goodnight,” she said.

Giles wanted to kiss her again. “Goodnight,” he said, and turned, walking back to the car.

**Author's Note:**

> i NEVER wrote a fic about my personal headcanon for giles and jenny's first kiss....why am i like this...why did it take me So Long
> 
> edit: did change the tenses, yes. i wanted to make sure it meshed with the second installment.


End file.
